Shadow Minister for Home Affairs and Immigration Kristina Keneally. In Nine Entertainment’s news­papers on Tuesday, Latika Bourke reported Tony Abbott’s speech to the Policy Exchange think tank in support of Britain exiting the EU — Brexit. The heading was “Tony Abbott quotes the Bible in London Brexit speech”. The biblical quote occurred close to the…

Scott Morrison, centre, with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, left, and Senator Mathias Cormann, right, walk out of a press conference in July. It’s just over 100 days since the Coali­tion’s crushing victory over Labor at the federal election in May. Speaking on the occasion of Scott Morrison’s first anniversary as Prime Minister last Saturday, John Howard…

David Marr is a George Pell ­antagonist who writes for the left-wing Guardian Australia and appears on the ABC. In the Guardian Australia on Wednesday, Marr commented on the decision of the Victorian Court of Appeal in ­George Pell v The Queen. Marr had this to say about Justice Mark Weinberg, who delivered the dissenting…

Former prime minister Paul Keating’s interview with Laura Tingle on ABC television’s 7.30 last Tuesday has set up a debate within the Labor Party over its defeat in the May election. Some Labor supporters agree with Keating that Labor, under Bill Shorten’s leadership, “failed to understand the middle-class economy” that Keating claims to have created along with…

Followers of Nine’s 60 Minutes are used to the hyperbole that invar­iably is associated with publicising the program. For example, last Sunday’s story on Crown casinos was supposed to “rock the found­ations of Australia”. However, a week later, life Down Under seems much the same as before. This serves as a reminder that it was not long…

Arthur Conan Doyle’s character Sherlock Holmes referred to the curious incident of the dog that did not bark. This week witnessed another odd circumstance; namely, the unwillingness of certain media outlets to report former Greens leader Bob Brown’s cry about wind farms in northwest Tasmania. On July 8, the Hobart Mercury published an article by Brown ­expressing…

Tom Keneally ‘threw the switch to alienation’ when discussing the issue of refugees and asylum-seekers with the BBC Most Australians appreciate the cut and thrust of the domestic political debate. However, when talking to foreigners all of us have a responsibility to be as factual as possible and to avoid hyperbole. Bestselling author and Booker…

The most important message from Sky News’ two-part documentary Bad Blood/New Blood, which aired on Tuesday and Wednesday, was provided by Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton. He said the Liberal Party was in the best position it had been in for some years. The Coalition’s defeat by Labor in March 2007 saw the incumbent prime minister…

Illustration: John Tiedemann What’s interesting about the ABC’s headquarters in Sydney’s inner-city Ultimo in recent times turns on that which is suddenly missing at the top of the organisation — namely, the prevalence of denial that has pervaded the public broadcaster for decades. For eons, the ABC board, senior management and high-profile staff have denied…

Unlike Bill Shorten, Prime Minister Scott Morrison went into the election with a modest platform. Yet it won both votes and seats. In October 1980, the Coalition under Malcolm Fraser’s leadership won its third election in a row. A bit like 2019, except the current administration has had three prime ministers — Tony ­Abbott, Malcolm…